Playboy's Mea Culpa

Playboy Enterprises issued the following statement in the wake of the controversy over its Romanian edition's article on wife beating:

CHICAGO, Thursday, April 20, 2000--Playboy Enterprises, through its chairman and CEO, Christie Hefner, has strongly criticized a recent article in Playboy magazine's licensed Romanian edition and censured its editor. The article was intended as a satirical component of the Romanian magazine's "Day of All Farces" (April Fool's Day) and was entitled, "How to Beat Your Wife...Without Leaving Marks on Her Body."

"This article flies in the face of Playboy's 46-year history of strongly opposing any visual or editorial depiction of violence toward women," Hefner said. "We do not condone it and will not tolerate it. The editor has been reprimanded, and we apologize in the strongest terms to Romanian women for any anguish this ill-conceived 'satire' may have caused."

Hefner noted that Playboy Enterprises has long been a powerful corporate supporter of women's rights and has worked closely with many groups and organizations in support of women's rights.

"Playboy Romania is a relatively new international edition for us, and it is likely that its local editor did not thoroughly grasp the harm such an article could cause. This, however, does not excuse his profound lapse in judgement."

The Playboy chairman and CEO said that the editorial director of Playboy's international editions has been dispatched to Romania to speak personally to the staff and to explore ways to work cooperatively with appropriate organizations to educate men about violence against women and to support women who have been victims.